1. If Tebow has the nerve to tell his management company and perhaps his brother to back off — that he’s the boss — it would be both possible and advisable for him to remain with the Broncos as a backup following a signing of Peyton Manning.

I concede that John Elway and John Fox probably believe Manning and Tebow are mutually exclusive, and will trade or otherwise get rid of Tebow if Manning signs here.

What Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin feared the night before the Steelers played the Broncos in the AFC wild-card game became his nightmare at Sports Authority Field at Mile High back in January.

CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz, who is the subject of Thursday’s Denver Post “Fan Mail” that gets posted in full later this week, said Monday his favorite Tim Tebow play this season was the 80-yard overtime pass to Demaryius Thomas.

A lot of it is because Tomlin told Nantz the night before the game that he didn’t want to give the Broncos the ball first should the game go to overtime. Because of the new NFL overtime rule, both teams were guaranteed a possession in overtime, unless the team that got the ball first (in this case the Broncos) scored a touchdown.

CBS' Jim Nantz interviewed Peyton Manning after the Colts won the AFC Championship game in 2010.

Jim Nantz has been covering the NFL for CBS Sports for more than 25 years. During an interview Monday for The Denver Post’s weekly “Fan Mail” feature, Nantz was asked how well Peyton Manning would fit in Denver.

“I could see him in a Broncos uniform,” Nantz said in a phone interview. “The whole idea of seeing him in anything other than a Colts uniform takes a little adjustment. But he’s going to be in some other uniform. And once you get past that, you start to think the Denver thing makes a lot of sense.”

With the AFC on CBS, Nantz called the Broncos’ last five games of the season — the final three regular-season games as well as the wild-card and divisional playoff games. Nantz and Manning have been friends since Manning’s days at Tennessee. They have done commercials together and play golf in the offseason. He said wherever Manning goes, he’ll be well versed on what he’s getting into.

Peyton Manning will be in Denver tonight visiting with the Broncos, according to two NFL sources. Below are reactions from fans, writers and others from around the NFL on the possibility that Manning will be a Denver Broncos and compete with Tim Tebow for the starting quarterback job.

I have talked to people close to the Peyton Manning situation and the expectation as of today is the bidding war will come down to Mike Shanahan’s Washington Redskins and the Miami Dolphins.

The New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks will also make a run, as well up to three or four others.

The Broncos will not be in the bidding, although where Manning lands will create a domino affect that could affect which free-agent quarterback Denver does sign to back up Tim Tebow.

Indirectly, Manning was a reason why Shanahan decided to move away from quarterback Jake Plummer following the Broncos’ AFC championship game loss in the 2005 season. Losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home in the conference championship left Shanahan and his coaching staff with the consolation prize of coaching the AFC Pro Bowl team in Hawaii.

Within the 15 to 20 new players the Broncos will acquire through free agency and the draft over the next two months, they must make hundreds, if not a thousand decisions.

For instance, the new rookie quarterback they acquire. They figure Ryan Tannehill, the No. 3 QB on the board and Von Miller’s teammate at Texas A & M, will be gone by the time the Broncos select with their No. 25 overall draft pick. No matter how much they love Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden — and they do — the Broncos can’t take him at No. 25 because his age (29 on Columbus Day) drops his value.

INDIANAPOLIS — There are three draftable quarterbacks who are ready to play in the NFL on Day 1.

One is Andrew Luck. The second is Robert Griffin III (although because he played in a college spread at Baylor, he could use half a season to develop behind, say, Cleveland’s Colt McCoy). And the other is Brandon Weeden.

At least according to me. Providing Brady Quinn doesn’t return, (there is a possibility he does come back, by the way), the Broncos will sign a free-agent quarterback soon after the market opens March 13. They are also expected to bring in a rookie quarterback, either through the draft, or as an undrafted free agent.

Here are the top five free-agent quarterbacks that might fit the Broncos, keeping in mind there should be zero doubt that Tim Tebow will be their starting quarterback to begin the 2012 season.

Ask yourself this: Which quarterback do you think will have a better 2012 season, Eli Manning or Tom Brady? Of course, you would say Brady.

The final NFL quarterback rankings of the 2011 season — among the two remaining quarterbacks last weekend — according to Denver Post NFL writer Mike Klis (includes previous week’s ranking in parentheses):

“I think it would have been hard for anybody to take me out of that game,” Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow said today.

It’s not far-fetched to believe. The Broncos were two weeks away from reaching the Super Bowl, losing just three weeks ago in a second-round playoff game to the New England Patriots. The Patriots’ opponent in Super Bowl XLVI, the New York Giants, were 7-7 with two regular-season games remaining while the Broncos were once 8-5.

Tebow is still a bit tender from rib, chest and shoulder injuries suffered in that playoff game against the Patriots.

“I’m continuing to heal,” he said, as he walked between Radio Row spots here. “But I’m getting there. I’m working certain body parts and working pretty hard. I’ll be able to do more hopefully next week.”

INDIANAPOLIS — Finally, I found him. A person qualified to critique NFL quarterback play who thinks Tim Tebow has what it takes to become a bona fide NFL quarterback.

“Tim Tebow has got what I can’t teach: A winner and leader,” said former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Sean Salisbury. “We’ve got enough buttheads in this league who don’t know how to grab somebody by the throat and tell him to play. This kid does.

“Now, his mechanics are awful. Whoever taught him to yank his (front) arm through — I know it wasn’t Denver — did him a great disservice. It’s like trying to swim upstream. But I can promise you this: Give me four months with that kid and he’ll complete 60 percent of his passes next year. Because he wants to work. He’s one of those guys who stays the course.”

But competition in the NFL is fierce. And quarterbacks rule the game. So Tom Brady and Eli Manning, by virtue of leading their teams to the Super Bowl, are now nipping at the paper heels of Tebow and Miller.

Clippers guard Chauncey Billups meets with Tim Tebow before a game against the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 29, 2012 at Pepsi Center in Denver.

Tim Tebow met Sunday with Denver’s legendary No. 7 — sorta.

The Broncos quarterback did get face-to-face with Chauncey Billups, who led the L.A. Clippers with 32 points in a giant win over the Nuggets at Pepsi Center. And Billups is a Denver legend. And Billups did wear No. 7 when he arrived in Denver (for a second time) as a Nuggets player after the Allen Iverson trade (although Billups later changed to No. 1).

Tebow was courtside at the game sitting with trainer Loren Landow, brother Robby Tebow and Brad Judah.

The Colorado Sports Hall of Fame has picked Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow as the state’s professional athlete of the year. He will share headlining honors at a banquet in April with standout swimmer Missy Franklin, who was picked as amateur athlete of the year.

Other honorees from the college and high school ranks include Devon Beitzel (Northern Colorado) and Katelyn Steffan (Colorado State), high school honorees Connor Medbery (Loveland) and Annie Kunz (Wheat Ridge), and Disabled Athlete Recognition Award winner Mike Smisek.

The Colorado Sports Hall of Fame banquet is on April 10 at the City Center Marriott in Denver. Individual tickets are $175.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.